


Come Together

by tabbytabbytabby



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Communication, F/M, Future Fic, Making Up, Post-Canon, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28465632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: Years after Erin leaves Chicago, she and Jay meet again.
Relationships: Jay Halstead/Erin Lindsay
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Come Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dameofbooks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dameofbooks/gifts).



The cold wind hits him as soon as he steps out of the car onto the frozen street. You would think that after decades of Chicago winters he'd be used to the cold, but winters in New York hit a little differently. The cold bites a little hard. Which is why that first gust of wind still sends a jolt through him each time. 

It's nothing compared to the jolt when he sees the figure standing outside his hotel. Her back is to him, but he'd still recognize her anywhere, even after all this time. 

Jay stands frozen on the sidewalk, unsure what he's even supposed to do. 

Then she turns, and their eyes meet. If she's surprised to see him, she doesn't show it. She says something to the woman with her, before walking away, towards him. 

"Hi, Jay."

It's been three years since the last time he heard her voice. Three long years. He wishes he could say he was in a place where that voice didn't still get to him. But he's not. That much is clear by the way his heart jumps in his chest at just the sound of it. 

He clenches his hands at his sides as he steps closer but still keeps some distance between them. 

"What are you doing here, Erin?"

She raises an eyebrow at his less than cordial tone, but doesn't comment on it. "It appears I'm your contact on the Dempsey case."

"No, Lewis Harry is my contact," Jay says. He's sure of it. He spent a lot of time talking to the guy in the days leading up to his trip. 

"He's my partner," Erin tells him. "Came down with something, and since I'm the only other person who knows the case inside and out, he asked me to fill in."

Jay nods. It's an easy enough explanation. That's the whole reason he's here too. Something she must know. "And I'm guessing you're here on Voight's behalf?"

"Yeah, the case we had back in Chicago was too big for him to leave, so he sent me."

She smiles, "I'm not surprised. One day you'll be running the unit."

"Yeah, right," Jay laughs. "You really think Voight's going to give that up?"

"He might surprise you," she says. "People give up a lot of things they never thought they'd be able to."

He knows that all too well. Years ago, when she left Chicago, he’d had no choice but to give her up. So many times he’d thought about what he might say to her the next time he saw her, but now none of that seems important. It’s been years. He doesn’t exactly want to rehash all that old pain and anger. 

“Do you want to come up?” Jay asks her.

She raises an eyebrow, “You’re inviting me up to your room?”

“I’m inviting you someplace out of the cold so we can talk about the case,” Jay says.

Erin smiles, that familiar knowing smile of hers. “Of course.”

“If you’d rather stay out in the cold…”

“Lead the way,” she says. “I’ll order us a pizza.” When Jay raises an eyebrow, she laughs. “Don’t tell me you’re not hungry after your trip.”

He is. He’s starving. Something he hadn’t realized until now. His body has been warring with the cold and exhaustion, followed by the surprise at seeing Erin again. “I could eat.”

“That hasn’t changed, at least.”

So many things have. Jay knows that. But as he falls into step beside Erin as they walk through the hotel lobby towards the elevator, it feels familiar. It feels like almost no time has passed at all. That’s both good and bad. Good because he doesn’t want there to be awkwardness between them. Bad because it makes him want things. Things he knows he shouldn’t. This is just one weekend. After that, Jay will go back to Chicago, Erin will stay here, and their lives will go back to how they were. 

The elevator stops on the fifth floor, and they step out, Erin following Jay down the hall to his room. He opens the door and they step inside. It’s not much, but it’s better than some of the other places he’s found himself staying in over the years.

“It’s good to see you again, Jay,” Erin says into the silence that’s fallen between them.

Jay meets her gaze and smiles. “Yeah, you too.”

“You know I didn’t like having to leave,” Erin says. “Intelligence. Chicago. _You_.”

“Erin…”

“We never got to talk about it,” Erin interrupts. 

“Because you just left!”

“Things got messy,” she says. “I didn’t have a choice, Jay.”

“You still could have talked to me about it,” he tells her. “We could have figured something out.” 

And that’s what stings the most. That she could just leave him without even saying goodbye. That he just came back to find her stuff, and her, gone. The ring he’d bought her had felt heavy in his pocket. A reminder of what he’d lost. But she hadn’t been lost. She’d left. Whatever the reason, it still hurt like hell. 

“We couldn't have,” she says. “I wish we could have. But after what happened, I didn’t have a choice. Internal affairs was investigating me, and it wasn’t going to end well. Taking this job was the only option.”

“Did you ever think that maybe I would have come with you?” Jay asks her. 

“I know you would have,” she says softly. “But you have a life there. I couldn’t ask you to give that up for me.”

Jay knows. He knows all of that. He’s gone over the whole thing over and over again in his head. It’s never made it any easier. Not then. Not now. Not knowing that even after all this time he still loves her. That all she’d have to do is ask him, and he’d stay. 

“Ask me.”

Erin does look surprised now and a little sad as she shakes her head. “Jay…”

He steps up to her, closing some of the space between them. “ _Ask_ _me_.”

“That’s really what you want?” she asks him instead. “Even after all this time?”

“It is.”

“We’re not the same people we were back then,” she tells him. “You don’t know…”

“I know I still love you,” Jay cuts in. “I knew the moment I saw you standing on the sidewalk. I know that even I love Chicago and my job that there’s been something missing, and that’s you, Erin. So if you still feel the same way about me as you did then, if you still love me, ask me to stay, and I will.”

Erin’s hand comes up to cup his cheek, and Jay closes his eyes. “I do still love you, but I can’t ask you that. Not tonight.” 

“Why not tonight?” he asks her.

“Because our emotions are at a high tonight,” Erin says. “I don’t think either of us should be making any life-altering decisions right now.”

Jay opens his eyes to see her smiling up at him. He gives her his own crooked smile. “When has that ever stopped us?”

“Rarely,” Erin says. “But I think we owe it to ourselves and each other to take it slow.”

She’s right. Jay knows she is. It was impulsive of him to ask her to ask him to stay. But he knows he would. He would, and he wouldn’t regret it. There is a lot to think about here. Things that are bigger than just the two of them. 

“I can wait,” Jay tells her. “I’ll always wait for you.”

Erin leans up and kisses him, something soft and lingering, like a promise. Then she’s pulling back and walking towards the door, where a knock is sounding. She returns a minute later with a box of pizza in her arms. 

“So,” she says, setting the box down on the table. “Let’s talk about the case.”

Jay joins her at the table, already preparing to push down whatever he’s feeling for her. At least for now. Come tomorrow, things might change for both of them. For now, they have work to do.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos/comments make my day 💜  
> [My tumblr](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/)


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